The Pursuit of HappYness

Ever since I did my summers at the private banking department of a bank in Hyderabad during May and June this year, my brother had been asking me to see this movie in which Will Smith is an intern at Dean Witter Reynolds. I had more or less been doing the same that Will does during his internship at DWR. Calling up prospective clients,(High Net Worth Individuals) for the private banking services of the bank. I didn't have the pressure of standing first among the group of 20 that Will had, to become a broker.

Moving on to the movie, there are very few movies, the mere mention of the name of which, brings you a myriad of images and makes you think for a few minutes, however busy you were or whatever you were doing. This definitely is one among those few. The others that fit this list from my limited scope are Forrest Gump, Shaw shank Redemption, Apollo 13, Life is Beautiful in English and Anbe Sivam, Kaakha Kaakha, Dalapathi, Mahanadi, Nayagan and Ethir Neechal in Tamizh.

The movie is based on the real life of Chris Gardner (played by Will smith), who struggles to make ends meet and tries every possible way to come out of the daily grind and make it BIG in life. Chris gets an internship at DWR and is simultaneously faced with crisis at home (with his wife leaving him), and is even rendered homeless, over unpaid dues.

I particularly liked the scene, where Chris tries to solve the Rubik’s cube, while Ronald Reagan addresses the nation on the state of the economy. It seemed as though the entire economy is one big Rubik's cube for which no one knew the solution, while common men and women endured agony for their existential necessities.

The best performance in the movie undoubtedly is by Jaden Smith, Will Smith's real life son who plays Chris's son Christopher. The rapport that Chris and Christopher share on the screen reminds you of the one between Guido and Joshua in 'Life is Beautiful’.

The movie brings to light the problem of homelessness that even the 'mighty' U.S faces. This is a stark contrast to the glass, steel and tarmac that we are used to associating with the U.S. The way Chris manages his time at the office without taking restroom breaks and rushes back to the charity shelter before 5 in the evening, after getting Christopher back from the day care, makes one feel that Life is a mystery and can be unravelled only by showing grit, when the world shuts its doors on you.

The last day of the internship when Chris is chosen among the 20 in his group to become the broker, Will Smith walks into the deal room with an ' I am the king of the world' look on his face, for savoring which any amount of hardship can be endured.